Boy Asks Santa to End His Sister's Bullying

[Hum]

When Karen Suffern, a single mom from Rocky Mount, N.C., asked her 8-year-old twins to write a letter to Santa with their Christmas wishes over the weekend, she expected to see toys, books and clothes on the list.

Instead, Suffern was shocked to see a heartfelt request from her son, Ryan, that Santa Claus step in and put an end to the bullying suffered by his twin sister, Amber.

"Dear Santa ? I wanted a [remote control] car and helicopter, but I don't want that any mor. Kid at school are still picking on Amber and its not fair because she doesnt do anything to them ? ," Ryan wrote. "I prayed that they will stop but god is bisy and needs your help.

"Is it against the rules to give gift early?" he wrote.

"Ryan handed me his and told me not to read it so of course I read it to find out what he wanted," Suffern told ABCNews.com. "That's when I realized and thought, 'Oh, my gosh.'"

Suffern posted the letter to her Facebook page to share with family and a few close friends, or so she thought. After her friends shared it on their own pages and online, however, the letter went viral, making news across the globe as people were touched by Ryan's words.

"It's amazing and overwhelming at the same time," Suffern said of the response. "Initially, I was kind of upset because it reached so many people and I'm a private person but now I think it's a topic that needs to be discussed before it becomes too late."

The attention forced Suffern to tell Ryan, who, like Amber, is in the third-grade, that she had read his letter.

"It takes a lot to get him to talk, like pulling teeth, so he doesn't understand why it's a big deal," she said.

It also allowed Suffern to open a dialogue with her children's school, and begin to make things better for Amber, who Suffern says suffers from ADHD, depression and a mood disorder.

"The school has been in touch and they're making sure my daughter feels comfortable and safe," Suffern said. "They moved her on the bus because about 98 percent of the bullying takes place on the bus. She's now sitting with her cousin who's much older than Amber is.

"Today and yesterday she didn't wake up begging me to let her stay home, so I guess that's a good sign," she said.

Suffern says she first started talking to her children about bullying a year or two ago when the Cartoon Network hosted a TV special TV on the topic.

"I asked the kids if they had ever bullied anyone or been bullied and Amber said, 'Sometimes I just wish I would die so that people would leave me alone,'" Suffern recalled.

"That broke my heart," she said. "I've been there and I do not want my daughter going through that."

source

[+Warwagon MVC]

Bullies are the scum of the earth. One kid who was a grade above me all through school, use to bully the **** out of me in elementary school. Now he's one of my facebook friends. Gotta forgive some day.

 

This one girl, who was a friend of mine in high school, was not popular and who was also bullied, told me that she went to a party, and at that party was one of the guys from high school that was a total dick wad to her and a bunch of other kids. She said he came up to her and apologized to her for how he treated in her in high school.

 

I have to get the guy props for that.

[Growled Member]

 

It also allowed Suffern to open a dialogue with her children's school, and begin to make things better for Amber, who Suffern says suffers from ADHD, depression and a mood disorder.

 

"The school has been in touch and they're making sure my daughter feels comfortable and safe," Suffern said. "They moved her on the bus because about 98 percent of the bullying takes place on the bus. She's now sitting with her cousin who's much older than Amber is.

 

"Today and yesterday she didn't wake up begging me to let her stay home, so I guess that's a good sign," she said.

 

 

So good has come from it all. I'm glad. No one should have to suffer at the hands of bully's.

[Hum]

Maybe Santa will leave the girl a .22 pistol for Xmas.

[Growled Member]

Maybe Santa will leave the girl a .22 pistol for Xmas.

 

Violence is not the answer, Hum. ;)

[spacer]

So...it never occurred to this woman that her daughter was having bullying trouble at school when she would beg every day not to go to school? or that she flat out said she'd rather die just so kids would leave her alone? If an 8 year old brings up the subject of suicide in a serious conversation, how do bells not go off in your head?

 

I mean, kids occasionally say they don't want to go to school. That is typical stuff. I did it dozens of times growing up, but literally begging every day? Come on. Something tells me this parent needed to pay more attention.

[Arpit]

poor girl.  i still find that bullying and experiences related to it are underrated just because the kids involved would be too shy/proud to admit.

 

even later, apology goes a long way but bullying at that age can leave lasting scars.

 

i wasn't bullied per se, as in no one ever threatened me or physically harmed me, but i had somewhat related experiences.  i came to toronto when i was 12 from india (and having grown up in a small town there and going to an all boys school).  the culture shock for me was huge.  absorbing it alone took its time but the kids during that age didn't help much.  i used to be a social and happy child but i developed a ton of insecurities after puberty and grew to be more self-conscious and quiet.  in my case, kids used to make fun of my accent (even though i could speak/read/write english well), my name (current nick), my cluelessness about the pop culture here.  i got to a point within a couple of months that i actively started speaking in english everywhere, just to lose my accent (and lost most of it after 3 years or so), and tried to follow whatever was popular at the time just to fit in.  the change in culture didn't help much in socializing because i would come off as awkward.

 

i remember one particular incident where i had planned my 13th birthday party inviting all my class and my family had gone to good lengths organizing it all.  no one showed up on the day of and when i asked my classmates about it the following day, they laughed it off calling me the loser with no friends.  kids were 'better' in highschool in that they didn't make fun me of but just silently ostracised me and i myself developed social anxiety.  but i managed to make a few friends in those years, so there was some saving grace.

 

anyhow, i'm 28 now, far more confident and secure with myself.  i have a few really close friends (including a couple of who picked on me) and i'm able to acquaint with anyone anywhere without much difficulty because i understand the culture much more and can relate to them.  but because of my childhood i still have to make a conscious effort to get over my anxiety.  it happens most with people around my age.  i have trouble socializing for the sake of socializing because i keep questioning the other person's sincerity and integrity, even if they're harmless, and then i have to talk myself out of it and just carry on.

 

i really, really hope that parents reach out to their kids more just so they know what is going on.  schools/teachers can only do so much with limited knowledge.

[Growled Member]

So...it never occurred to this woman that her daughter was having bullying trouble at school when she would beg every day not to go to school? or that she flat out said she'd rather die just so kids would leave her alone? If an 8 year old brings up the subject of suicide in a serious conversation, how do bells not go off in your head?

 

I mean, kids occasionally say they don't want to go to school. That is typical stuff. I did it dozens of times growing up, but literally begging every day? Come on. Something tells me this parent needed to pay more attention.

 

I thought the same thing. Someone needs to pay more attention to their children.

[FloatingFatMan]

As a victim of an entire childhood of bullying, there is no way I'd ignore such a thing going on with my own children.  I pay close attention to their school lives and engage them at every level to make sure they're happy there.

 

So far, just one incident in my boys first year of high school that I dealt with immediately.

[illage3]

Bullying is really bad...

 

I'm ashamed of myself really.  I was bullied from starting school at the age of five until I left high school 10 years later.  I almost thought about ending it, but then I realized that at the end of the day it'll be me who gets somewhere in life not them.

 

And now ... most of the bullies in school are either on the dole, a potential guest of the Jeremy kyle show or a stuck in a dead end job. 

 

What makes it worse was that the teachers at my school were bullies too. My Art teacher was a prime example, to her I was the only one who could do wrong, every piece of work I did was never good enough, but it was only me who got treated that way.  It got to the point where me and her ended up shouting at each other, and I got kicked out of her class. 

 

This is how bad it got .... my friend was threatened with a knife by another kid in his class, so my friend runs out of school, and guess who gets in trouble .... my friend. Yet the guy who did the threatening didn't even get told off or anything. 

 

Best day of my life once I left that hell hole of a school. 

 

If I ever had kids and I found out they were being bullied, well I'd be fuming and I wouldn't stand for it.  Just remember the teachers can be bullies as well.

[theyarecomingforyou]

The child is clearly obese, suffers from depression and was being bullied yet her mother was completely oblivious to it all, which is a clear sign of neglect. Authorities need to intervene much quicker when it comes to the health of children, helping to educate parents as to the dangers of obesity and providing assistance; if there is no improvement then those children should be taken into care.

[HawkMan]

So...it never occurred to this woman that her daughter was having bullying trouble at school when she would beg every day not to go to school? or that she flat out said she'd rather die just so kids would leave her alone? If an 8 year old brings up the subject of suicide in a serious conversation, how do bells not go off in your head?

 

I mean, kids occasionally say they don't want to go to school. That is typical stuff. I did it dozens of times growing up, but literally begging every day? Come on. Something tells me this parent needed to pay more attention.

I don't think we should assume to know everything to mother done or was doing prior to the letter based on this story.